Roy Hodgson may feel like he has a juggling act on his hands in order to secure the necessary points in England's upcoming Group D matches at the FIFA World Cup tournament in Brazil to progress into the knockout stages, yet judging from the photographs released from their training session today, he refuses to drop the ball as the Three Lions are put through their paces ahead of battle on Saturday, when they take on Italy in Manaus.

One of the drawbacks of having an entire roster of players who compete in a league where there is no winter break, is that cumulative fatigue is obviously an issue.

It is no surprise that England have already suffered a setback. What is the surprise is that, thus far, there is only one casualty; electric-paced and dynamic Arsenal attacker Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who, in positive news, was at training - the Urca military base in Brazil - as he attempts to swiftly recover from the medial knee ligament injury he sustained during the 2-2 draw with Ecuador.

Oxlade-Chamberlain will be absent from the chosen squad against Italy this weekend, but Hodgson is positive that the Gunner will feature at some stage in the World Cup - probably against Costa Rica.